[QUOTE=Winman;15492]The other night I was reading 2 Kings chapter 17 and found it rather confusing. I think I have resolved it, but I would like to see your opinions. The confusing verses are 25, 32, 33, 34, and 41. In verse 25 it says they
feared not the Lord. In verses 32, 33, it says they
feared the Lord. Then in verse 34 it says they
feared not the Lord. This was when it started getting real confusing.
Then, after that, in verse 41 it says they
feared the Lord. Now I was totally confused.
I think I have it sorted out now. If I am correct, these people had no knowledge of the Lord in verse 25. In verses 32 and 33 they had knowledge of the Lord and feared Him, but continued to worship their former false gods as well. Verse 34 is saying that
in reality, they did not truly fear the Lord or they would have put these false gods away. And verse 41 is repeating that they feared the Lord (but not truly), but simply added the Lord to their former gods as verses 32 and 33 state.
Any opinions on this?
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Win, I believe as you do. As former Church Of Christ I never heard the word "progressive revelation" until I read it in one of Dr. Ruckman's books. What we are seeing in this chapter is a history covering a period of time. I believe they accepted God along with their other gods and placed Him on their godshelf. On mArs Hill Paul a god to this and a god of that, and to round out and make sure they didn;t leave no gods out they built an image to The Unknown God. I think this chapter in the II Kings would cross refer to Mars Hill perfectly.
Grace and peace
Tony